Pipe, such as plastic, copper, lead pipe, and the like, has been used for connecting homes to and creating networks for utilities, for instance, water, sewage, and natural gas. As pipes become older, they break down, crack, develop scaling on interior surfaces that can clog the pipe, and the like and thereby require replacement.
A technique known as pipe bursting is currently used as a convenient method to replace underground pipe without the need to completely excavate the pipe needing replacement. A pipe breaking device, such as an expander or a mole, is pulled by a cable through the existing pipe while it is still underground. The expander is designed to break, split or burst the pipe, and at the same time push the old pipe into the surrounding soil. The expansion of the old pipe allows the expander to pull a replacement pipe into place.
In one example, pipe splitters include one or more blades extending from an outer surface of a pipe splitter section. The one or more blades can be used to split or aid in splitting the pipe. Over time, the one or more blades can become worn and less effective at splitting or aiding in splitting the pipe. Over enough time and use, the one or more blades can become so worn and ineffective as to require replacement, at which point the entire pipe splitter section would have to be replaced. Such pipe splitter sections can be relatively difficult and/or relatively expensive to machine or otherwise manufacture.